Often samples of body fluids, for example, blood, are taken from a patient for diagnostic or research purposes. Typically, such fluids are obtained in a doctor's office, hospital or clinic, in which lab facilities are either not available on the premises or are in a location remote from the place in which the sample is taken. In such circumstances, the sample must be transported to an appropriate lab facility for analysis and/or testing. Generally, a blood sample is placed in a vial or test tube for transport to the lab. The vials are normally inexpensive and not intended for the rigors of transport since they are generally discarded after each use to ensure that the samples are not contaminated by previous samples. A vial typically will include a tubular body with a plug type closure member which is inserted into the top of the tubular body and held therein by friction.
During transport, care must be taken to ensure that the vial is not broken, resulting in loss of the sample. Even slight cracking of the vial can expose the sample to impurities rendering the sample unusable or unreliable. Often, a number of samples are transported together. Breakage or leakage of any one sample will not only affect the broken or leaking sample, but also may jeopardize the integrity of the samples with which it is transported. In addition, the personnel (e.g., couriers, health care workers, etc.) handling such samples can be endangered by exposure to such body fluids.
When a sample is lost or contaminated, the doctor and patient both suffer great inconvenience in having to reschedule an appointment for drawing another sample. This can embarrass the doctor and the patient may lose confidence in the doctor and/or become discouraged by the discomfort associated with drawing a sample. These problems can be avoided by storing and/or transporting the sample in a container which prevents or minimizes breakage and leakage of the sample vial. The transport container should also be capable of containing leakage from the vial such that any leakage will be confined within the transport container.
Packages for preventing breakage of fragile articles are known in the health care field. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,894 to Hafner et al. discloses a packaging container for transportation of thin, fragile objects, such as thermometers. The package includes a tubular member with a pair of substantially identical end caps which are inserted at each end of the tube. The end caps include a plurality of thin, flexible ribs which extend along the length of each cap such that the thermometer is yieldably received in the end caps, with the ribs providing shock resistance. However, such a container is not suitable for transporting vials containing body fluids, such as blood vials. Aside from the size and shape differences between a package which is adapted to hold thermometers and one required for holding vials, the end caps of Hafner et al. are merely slid into the tube body and may easily become dislodged, thereby subjecting the contents to breakage and/or allowing liquid seeping from a leaking vial to escape from the transport container. In addition, since the Hafner et al. package utilizes flexible ribs which grasp the ends of the article they support, the ribs may grasp the pluglike closure of a fluid sample vial and inadvertently cause the body fluid-containing vial to be opened upon opening of the transport container, resulting in spilled or contaminated body fluid. During transport, the end caps could also become dislodged causing the plug closure to separate from the vial or subjecting the vial to impacts associated with transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,920 to Barber discloses a holder for sample containers, such as vials or test tubes. As with the Hafner et al. arrangement, Barber utilizes a plurality of ribs which yieldably support the sample container. However, rather than providing an enclosure for the container, Barber merely provides a holder for positioning test tubes or vials during testing by analytical instruments, with only a portion of the test tube or vial received within the holder. Thus, Barber does not provide a satisfactory container for transporting body fluid-containing vials, such as blood vials.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,410 to Hansson et al. discloses a medical package for the sterile storage of artificial implants in which the implant is housed within a capsule formed of the same material as the implant, and the capsule is positioned within a glass ampoule utilizing a spring which applies a biasing force in the axial direction of the ampoule. However, the use of an outer glass ampoule is unsatisfactory for transporting body fluid-containing vials, such as blood vials, since such an ampoule can easily be broken and, in addition, can be cost prohibitive, particularly when it is desired to discard the containers after each use.
Thus, notwithstanding the availability of various types of containers for supporting or housing vials or test tubes, there remains a need for a container for transporting vials or other body fluid-containing vessels which can prevent or minimize breakage or opening of the vials during transport. In addition, such a container should be able to confine fluid in such a manner that, even if the vial leaks, the leakage is confined within the transport container and thus will not endanger health care or delivery personnel and will not contaminate other samples transported therewith.